Before the Devil Knows You're Here
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Part dark gothic fantasy, part journey into the bizarre, this delicious blending of tall tales and Latin American surrealism will haunt you as you devour it!
"Highly imaginative and powerfully affecting."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
1836, Wisconsin. Catalina lives with her pa and brother in a ramshackle cabin on the edge of the wilderness. Harsh winters have brought the family to the brink of starvation, and Catalina has replaced her poet's soul with an unyielding determination to keep Pa and her brother alive.
When a sudden illness claims Pa, a strange man appears—a man covered in bark, leaves growing from his head, and sap dripping from his eyes. He scoops up her brother and disappears, leaving behind a bird with crimson wings. Catalina can’t let this man—if that’s what he is—have her brother. So, she grabs Pa’s knife and follows the bird.
Along the way, she finds help from a young lumberjack, who has his own reasons for hunting the Man of Sap. As their journey takes them deeper into the woods, they encounter strange beasts and tormented spirits. The more they uncover about the Man of Sap, the more they learn how deeply Catalina’s fate is entwined with his, planted long ago in cursed seeds.
An enchanting mixture of American tall tales and Faustian elements, Before the Devil Knows You’re Here centers a fierce Mexican American poet on a quest to save her brother. Autumn Krause’s vivid, haunting prose and rich symbolism make this a must-read for fans of Maggie Stiefvater and Erin Craig.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Year
A Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year!
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“When the trees donned their autumnal crowns, it meant winter was circling, waiting to turn the trees to skeletons and the world to ice.”
Before the Devil Knows You're Here was everything I'd hoped it would be for an October read! It felt like a dark & spooky Alice in Wonderland, diving into the depths of human desire and motivations with very tangible fiends. I loved the poetic themes and straightforward plotline. I read the majority of this book in one sitting because I couldn't put it down and while I did manage to highlight a few of my favorite lines, most of the time I couldn't stop reading long enough to highlight because I needed to know what happened next! I'd love to go back and annotate this beautiful book!
I couldn't believe how short it was when I finished it. There is so much packed in its few pages that I feel as if I just read a 400+ page novel as far as content goes! There were many times that I had to set the book down and take a breath to process what happened in the story.
As for content, there are some spooks (obviously) and mentions of gory scenes, but I wouldn't call the book a “gory horror”. As I mentioned before, it gave me Alice in Wonderland vibes, but on a much darker level. There is d3ath and some morbid concepts, but overall, I think Before the Devil Knows You're Here is a poetic story that delves into the darkness that mankind is willing to embrace when afraid of losing our most beloved people. A glimpse at the villainy inside all of us, if you will. If you're a fan of gothic classics, such as The Picture of Dorian Gray and Frankenstein, Before the Devil Knows You're Here belongs on your bookshelf!
Other content: Very mild cursing (less than 5 mild words); one kissing scene (semi-detailed, but doesn't go beyond kissing); and the action/spooks are semi-detailed and while not “terrifying”, they are pretty creepy.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book. All comments and opinions are entirely my own. This review is voluntary.
